Once learned. . .

Can't believe I didn't even mention this. As someone who doesn't get to play everyday, there's one thing that has really helped my game over the years.

http://www.celeris.com/virtual_pool_3_windows.html

Virtual Pool 3 for the PC, imo, is the best pool simulator out there. I'd highly recommend anyone who doesn't get a chance to play everyday to at least try the free version. I'm sure there's also a cracked/free version on the web, but I don't this forums rules on posting those sort of links.
 
Several things made my game better:

1- Realizing that if you do everything exactly the same every single shot all you have to do is change one part of your stroke to accomplish different speeds. In other words, gripping my cue the exact same place, keeping my bridge the same distance from the cueball, same exact stance, same exact preshot routine, etc. Then all you have to do is change the velocity of the stroke in order to control your speed.

2- Learning how to do a stop shot by stroking below center. I don't mean the stop shot where you hit the ball in the center hard. I mean the stop shot where the cueball stops dead in its tracks after hitting the object ball.

Those two things combined to make my cueball control skyrocket. If you know how to have exactly the same stroke every shot it means you can modify that stop shot to draw or follow with very little mental concentration which lets me go into automatic mode.

Just this weekend I won 2 matches in under 9 minutes because I run around the table apparently when I'm in the zone.


3- Learning how to get into the zone when needed. This mental part of the game took me about 2 years to figure out and took a lot of mental trial and error.
 
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Playing the cue ball

Chopdoc said:
If I had to pick one thing I would say it was when I learned I was playing the cue ball and not the object ball. That changed everything.


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Excellent answer. I also like Bambu's "embracing center ball", and Scott's point about SPF.

For me, it was also adding defense to my game in the late '60s.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
 
A few good bridges always help, including the "right" closed bridge, solid open bridge and a proper rail bridge. Can't shoot if you can't hold the cue...

-td
 
This is a good question and one I suppose we all would hope there is a definitive answer to. I had to think about it for a while to see if I could come up with something specific.

There are so many components needed to be a good player. This game we all love is so complicated and so intricate that by its own design, holds itself back from being more popular by not being very friendly to beginners who lack that burning drive to learn and conquer the game.

It's not the kind of game that you can enjoy immediately without some degree of frustration. It's like the ultimate form of tapping your head while rubbing your stomach.

So, for whatever single thing named, regardless, there are a list of outlined sub categories relative to that thing that you need to work on to be able to execute that single thing. :scratchhead:

So, as a great friend who has since passed used to say, " The thing of the thing ain't the thing, the thing of the thing is being able to execute the thing ....... that's the thing!" :wink:
 
As mentioned above, the stop shot is the most important shot to practice. From there you learn to replace, stun, etc.

Here is something off the table that helps me.
I have a list of things I do for my pre shot routine.
Things like my stance, aim, follow through, etc. I have an extremely specific list of things I do for every shot when I'm playing my best pool.
When I am having an off day or just not playing my best, I go back to that list and find out what I'm not doing. Sometimes I may be gripping the cue too tightly without knowing it or some other subconscious mistake. After I read through the list I always find the problem. Then it's simply a matter of making the adjustment and getting back in the zone.
I currently keep the list in the notepad in my phone so it's always with me.
 
I'll add that when I learned that left and right english really only helps with getting position of the cue ball after it hits a rail my position play improved immensely and I began to scratch less. It amazes me how many good players think they can use left and right english to change the path of the cue ball off the object ball significantly. Player scratches the cue ball straight into the pocket, he comes back and says to me "I used left hand english to avoid the scratch, should I have used right?" My response, "For the 1,000th time, the only way you're going to significantly change the path of the cue ball off the object ball before it touches a rail is with follow and draw. Left and right do nothing except throw the object ball and cause you to miss the shot."
 
A bunch of the above, but also...simply keep your head still. Don't move your head. Its not about jumping up or staying down, its about keeping your head still, including your eyes and mouth. Of course, if you keep everything still but your stroke, that'll work too, but it starts with your head.
:thumbup:
 
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